SOTD #4: Staring blindly into space

Today's lyrical reflection will be mostly about titles.

This song did teach me a thing or two about the fine line between tastefully-cryptic titles and full-out what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about titles.  Where do this song and its title land on the spectrum?  I'll let you be the judge of that.  *rock music trumpets blare (wait, what?)*

25 Or 6 To 4 - Chicago

(Personal fave lyrics in bold)

Waiting for the break of day
Searching for something to say
Flashing lights against the sky
Giving up, I close my eyes

Sitting cross-legged on the floor
25 or 6 to 4

Staring blindly into space
Getting up to splash my face
Wanting just to stay awake
Wondering how much I can take
Ooh...

Should I try to do some more?
25 or 6 to 4
Oh, yeah!

Feeling like I ought to sleep
Spinning room is sinking deep
Searching for something to say
Waiting for the break of day

25 or 6 to 4
25 or 6 to 4

*

The aviators analysis:

It seems fairly clear that this song is about rock 'n' roll drug abuse (Should I try to do some more / Spinning room is sinking deep / Wondering how much I can take).  Beyond the tasteful drug allusions and consistent couplet rhyme pattern, however, the lyrical aspects of this song don't offer too much to write home about.

The title, however, is an eye-catcher.  At first glance, the arrangement of the numbers doesn't make a lot of sense, and when I ask people, even people familiar with Chicago and what the song is about (drugs), what they think the title means, they don't know.  I had no clue until I asked the internet.  Answer: it's a time.  If you figured this out on your own, good for you - you'd be the first person I've met who has!  (My mom, a big Chicago fan, always theorized that the numbers were referring to a jail sentence.)  Anyway, the title of the song is referring to 3:34 or 3:35am.  Thus, 25 or 26 minutes until four in the morning.  25 or 26 'til 4.  25 or 6 to 4.

Although I didn't hear that theory from the Transit Authority themselves, the lyrics seem to back it up.  Feeling like I ought to sleep / Getting up to splash my face / Wanting just to stay awake, and, most fittingly, Waiting for the break of day.  Mystery solved.

I love the title of this song because of its ambiguity, but also because it makes so much sense when you realize the meaning.  Also, think of how much mystique and artistic feel this song would lose if it were titled "Coke Lines in the Morning" or even "Blindly Into Space."  Good titles just click.  They "vibe" right and shoulder the meaning the writer wants.  In this case, Chicago wanted to be ambiguous to draw you into the music.  It isn't a very wordy song.  I love this trippy little title so much that I named a chapter in my first novel after it.  And yep, the chapter does take place at around 3:30 in the morning.  Kudos for making us think, Chicago.